The worm is turning. Christians are tired of being doormats. For years it has been forbidden (and downright dangerous) to mock a Moslem, bruise a Buddhist, jostle a Jew, harass a Hindu or slander a Sikh, but Christians have been fair game for any fundamentalist secularist to be rude about. Thus we have had the absurd Winterval as a replacement for Christmas, the Red Cross barring Christmas trees from its charity shops, the ridiculous "Happy Holidays" replacing "Merry Christmas", the dreadful "Jerry Springer - the opera", and religious symbols made from frozen urine and elephant dung.
Perhaps it is the injunction to 'turn the other cheek' and 'go the extra mile' that has restrained Christians, and given the impression that Christians find some sort of perverse pleasure in being insulted. Church authorities have urged restraint and tolerance. Goodness knows we don't want to go back to the Spanish Inquisition.
Now two issues have roused the troops. The first is the small cross that a member of the check-in staff at British Airways wishes to wear, that technically breaks the Uniform code. Nadia Eweida could very well wear her cross beneath her uniform, but she chooses not to; she wants to display a visible evidence of her faith. Christians differ on such emblems, much as Moslems do with the wearing of the Hijab. It is not compulsory, but a matter of personal choice. Many years ago I wore a small fish as a lapel badge, not because of any superstition but because it identified me as a Christian to other Christians, and it could also be a conversation starter. After they became very common in the 1970s I stopped, largely because they were no longer started conversations.
People who don't live in Britain will not appreciate that the part of London around Heathrow has a large population from the Indian subcontinent. Large numbers of airport workers come from what are still termed the 'ethnic minorities' Many of these are allowed to wear symbols of their faith - turbans, bangles, red spots on their foreheads and headscarves - because they can't be worn invisibly beneath their uniforms. So it appears to be discriminatory against Christians.
The suspension of Miss Eweida has caused a furore. Bishops and archbishops have written a letter to the Times, 100 MPs have vowed to boycott BA, and a website has been started called BA Boycott. From this I have selected on comment which puts the thing in a nutshell:
To BA: So, tell us. When are you morons going to paint over the British flags on all of your aircraft? I’m an American, but even I know that your flag consists of three ***gasp*** crosses. The Cross of St. George, the Cross of St. Andrew, and the Cross of St. Patrick. Just imagine how “offensive” THAT is. Remove those, as surely you must to remain consistent in your foolishness, and all you’ll have left is a WHITE FLAG. How appropriate.
The second issue is the banning of Christian Unions by several British Universities. Their offence? They refuse to allow non-Christians on their Executive Boards. Now can you imagine the Moslem Society being run by Hindus? Or the Labor party being run by Conservatives? Or the Jewish Society being run by Moslems? Again the Bishops and Archbishops of the Church of England have been moved to protest. Indeed the Christian Law Society is going to the Courts about it.
What about turning the other cheek? Sometimes we long for the days when God used to unleash thunderbolts on the slightest offender. But these are days of restraint. God is not willing that any should perish but that all would turn from their wicked ways and live. However, St Paul in prison stood up for his rights as a Roman citizen and Christians should remember that the Jesus they follow is not a long-haired wimp in a white nightdress, but the coming King. Show Him some respect, for God's sake.
9 comments:
the whole trip is nuts......you isolate the essential follies so clearly.....hard wired to spot inconsistancies!
...much better than i should pick,but you sink into the
deep bluse sea with no way of coming out.....this is of course,the modern dilemma - the secular commercial
future.....how to come into a gone world?
and with 6.5 billion whosy/who's done it apes trying to make meaning......neurologically obliged to make meaning,what will eventually happen?
nobody expects the spanish inquisition.....
be neat to squint round the corner to see how ape &
essence begin about!!!!!!!
joe
Thank you, Dr. Hamblin, for your faithful support and defense of our Savior and Lord and all that He stands for to Christians around the world. You are certainly empowered by the Holy Spirit to write with such authority and conviction.
As we approach the Christmas season, the secular progressives continue their attack on all that is Christmas-related. Companies can remove Christ and Christmas from their "holiday" marketing campaigns, however, Christ rules and will not be displaced by mortal men. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
I continue to read your blog for many reasons--1) to learn about my CLL; 2)to help me think about the world outside of my comfortable US suburban life; 3)to know that there are other Christians in the CLL world with me/to encourage me in God's larger purpose.
Thank you.
Liz W.
MN USA
In America, Christians are not yet tired of being doormats. We are still bound up in political correctness, which is neither political nor correct.
I see no resentment here of the put-downs of Christians.
I remember quite vividly a commentator on 'Air America', the liberal answer to conservative talk radio, saying that he 'despised Christians'. Why? I guess because they tended to be conservative, and that is a worse offense than most anything else to a liberal.
And they always talk of the hate that is supposedly the province of the right!
America's media is virtually locked up by the left wing. This allows liberals to control the information that reaches the mass market. Blogs and conservative radio have reached mainly conservatives. Conservative commentators receive death threats all the time. (The unions are probably players here.)
Center-right commentator Bill O'Reilly recently went on the nightly talk show with David Letterman, and the anger spewing from Mr. Letterman was something to behold. It was controlled venom.
The left refuses to learn or to listen. They don't want to lose touch with the one reality they think they have.
It's similar to the recent television show, 'The West Wing'. In it, a liberal president serves two terms fighting insane and violent Republicans who are homophomic, sexist, racist Christians. The Bible is used to attack Christianity.
The last season, they had another mock election. Of course the Democrat/liberals win again.
The loony left just can't face reality. They'd rather live in a fantasy parallel universe.
Bill O'Reilly centre-right??!
Sheesh!
I worry about that dangerous liberal Attila the Hun!
Exiled
No spin zone :)
You can always rely on Stev to bring everything down to cricket.
Maybe a Sikh spinner. ;)
Nice one Steve
cricket rather too painful at the moment...
;)
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